Boys Tennis: Gateway's Kyle Bright, Pitman's Zac Castagna set for historic matchup in South Jersey Times Gloucester County Open

If the seedings hold this weekend, there will be a first in Sunday’s South Jersey Times Gloucester County Open boys tennis tournament final at Atkinson Park.

Gateway Regional High School’s Kyle Bright, the 2012 champion, and Pitman’s Zac Castagna, the 2013 winner, could face off in the first-ever meeting of previous tournament champions in the 28-year history of the event.

Bright, a junior, won as a freshman but missed last year’s event with an elbow injury. Castagna, also a junior who was third as a freshman, overcame three-time finalist Andrew Weiss of Clearview in three sets to win the title last year.

Seeded first, Castagna hopes he and the second-seeded Bright have a chance for the matchup they were denied last year.

“I’m really excited,” said Castagna. “Kyle’s a great player. It’s great that he’s back and healthy. It stunk last year him not being there. Obviously he was the champion two years ago. I said this before, you want to play the best.

“I have to win four rounds to play him and he has to win four rounds to play me, so hopefully I get a chance to play him because it will be a lot of fun. It will be a lot of good tennis.”Prior to high school, Bright and Castagna were doubles partners in tournaments and the Gator junior said they made a strong tandem.

“It was a while ago, almost like a whole new universe,” said Bright. “Considering we played nationals against really good players, we were pretty good. Our games complimented each other and we beat some pretty good teams. He could run everything down, he’s so fast, and I’d make a lot of shots.”

Bright rolled into the tournament undefeated as a freshman, and despite being seeded third was dominating in taking the title. He admitted after suffering his first loss of this season, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 to Moorestown’s Tyler Blessing on Thursday it will probably be more challenging to win a second title.

Ironically, Castagna’s only loss this season is also to Blessing, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Bright was hoping to become only the second four-time winner of the tournament, joining former Gateway standout Matt Coin. Because of the injury, he only has a chance to join Coin and Washington Township’s Will Haight as three-time winners — though Castagna has the same opportunity.

“I have a lot to work on, obviously,” said Bright. “I kind of expected to win (freshman) year, more than this year. If I hit like (I did Thursday) I’ll lose, but I already knew that (before the loss).“I mean it (stunk not having the chance for four), but if I play like I did (against Blessing) I’ll only win one, so it’s not something I’m thinking about now.”

It’s a strong, deep field that will vie for the county championship this weekend, but it would take a pretty big upset for Castagna and Bright to not be standing across the net from each other Sunday.

“It was a great win for me last year and I’d definitely like to win it again,” said Castagna, who said he never beat Bright in practice sets when they were younger. “To try to beat Kyle would be really great, but I know it will be really tough. He’s obviously one of the best players in South Jersey.

“The experience helps, getting to the finals and knowing what it’s like to compete in the finals. Since he’s so good, I knew I would have to get a lot better to have a chance to compete with him. I can relax a little bit more knowing I won one and hopefully I can win two.”

Castagna feels he has made strides in the last year and Bright — despite the hiccup on Thursday and months away from competition — believes he has as well.

It should all add up to a highly-anticipated, historic final on Sunday — champion vs. champion.